WEST Cork Connect, the Skibbereen-based bus service that operates between West Cork and Cork city, has launched a new collection service designed to help local businesses and shoppers during the Level 5 restrictions, called ‘West Cork Collect’.

Retailers and individuals can now drop or collect parcels at thirteen collection points along the N71, including Leap, Rosscarbery, Clonakilty and Bandon.

This means that a shopper from Clonakilty can buy a product from a shop in Skibbereen over the telephone or online and the retailer can simply drop the item to the West Cork Connect bus at one its designated times in Skibbereen.

The shopper can then collect their item from the bus when it arrives in Clonakilty during the day. The service costs from €1, depending on the size of the package.

‘When the latest lockdown started we wanted to do something to help local retailers keep trading and we knew that a major challenge was getting their goods to shoppers who might purchase from them remotely,’ Damien Long, chief executive of West Cork Connect, said.

‘So, as part of our daily bus service, we’re introducing our new same-day parcel delivery service. It will give local shops an advantage over big online retailers who can’t offer same-day delivery services. You can contact your local shop and purchase over the phone or online. If you want it delivered the same day, they can put your items on one of our bus services at the local bus stop with four different time options each day and you can collect it from one of our thirteen bus stops along the N71 between Skibbereen and Cork City.’